At It Again – But New Twist? (Scammers)

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Posted by michael cole on 17/02/2023 10:48:10:

Posted by Robert Atkinson 2 on 09/02/2023 06:09:12:

Video doorbells etc also require compliance with data protection laws in the UK if they have a view of the street.

Err, just No this is not the case . The public street is just that Public.

Mike

That is my understanding

Tony

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Yet another scam to watch out for. Asking me to renew my TV licence. Fortunately I know it's done automatically, but the email is reasonably convincing. It even quotes a .uk.gov website if you want to unsubscribe. Actually UK government websites are .gov.uk, and TV licencing isn't either, and the scam email; comes from a .fr address

Edited By duncan webster on 28/02/2023 23:04:23

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I had one recently pretending to be from BT, waffling about my "profile"!

Also very convincing until you look a little more closely, starting with the title holding the curious word 'Ac-count' .

I tried to forward it to phishing@bt but it failed, not the first to do so. I think the scum who send these more sophisticated attacks are now putting anti-forwarding protection in their messages. So I opened it up with the 'View Source' tool, and copied the text of what that revealed into the forwarding's e-post template.

''''

Anyone else here heard of "Tracey Gough"?

One strange attempt though I have received a few times is from someone / something claiming to be "Tracey Gough" (I know no real woman of that name). These are very short messages saying she/it is sending photos, sometimes allegedly ones "forgotten" previously; followed by a link

The link and "her" own sending address always look strange, never end in '.uk' and are different each time because I block their names and domains.

I forget if from this pseudo-Tracey or not, but I examined one or two web-links, without doing so from within the message, to find they open some "news" magazine site called MIrror. Not Daily Mirror, and it has no evident connections with the real newspaper. I did not follow it beyond the home page, and I have no idea who is making it and where. America probably – if it is real.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Nigel Graham 2 on 01/03/2023 08:14:09:

[…]

Anyone else here heard of "Tracey Gough"?

One strange attempt though I have received a few times is from someone / something claiming to be "Tracey Gough" (I know no real woman of that name). These are very short messages saying she/it is sending photos, sometimes allegedly ones "forgotten" previously; followed by a link

[…]

.

I occasionally receive similar messages, purporting to be from a name that I do recognise … but clearly not from his account … so I suspect that Tracey Gough may just be two words chosen at random by a ‘bot’ somewhere.

I am currently forwarding all suspect messages to < report@phishing.gov.uk > in the hope that my action will in some small way contribute to the downfall of a scammer.

MichaelG.

.

Ref. https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/phishing-scams

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 01/03/2023 08:48:43

[Fowlers FuryParticipant @fowlersfury]

As Michael Gilligan, but for the last 4 or 5 months I regularly receive emails purporting to be from familiar people with whom I have exchanged emails in the past.
They all refer to "pictures" I must see by clicking on the link. Easy enough to spot and delete of course.
What annoyed me (other than those original people who allowed their email contacts lists to be accessed through inadequate pc protection) is that this spoofing of familiar email senders' names didn't seem 'blockable'. I'd created "Rules" in Outlook to immediately delete emails containing their names but somehow they keep getting through. Some on-lline research suggests it's becoming a global problem and it is possible to block them but I've yet to work my way through the numerous M/soft links:-

**LINK**

(I've become a great fan of the free services provided by the silly-named Duckduck organisation which appears in the above link. I now use their service for deleting all trackers from incoming emails as well as all my Google searching going via their website..

**LINK**

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Quite a few E mails have arrived asking to click on a link to see the photos that they forgot to send.

They also forgot that their E mail address bears no relation to one of the person they are trying to impersonate.!

Have to resist the temptation to reply to effect of "The other one plays Annie Laurie when you pull it" or some other facetious comment.

Yes, some of the senders may be absolutely poverty strickem, but their activities do not fall into the definition of honest work. Criminal activity? YES

Howard

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I've just reported another pretend Santander Bank attempt allegedly needing my new portable 'phone number. I've had the same number of over 4 years and have no dealings with the genuine bank.

Reported it to BT, my bank and report.phishing @ gov.uk.

Blocked sender, whose address was given as from a portable phone – very likely for a real bank – and domain, which ended in ' .nl '. Holland?

It is tempting to send back something, and certainly not from within the message itself as that is where the link to the trap resides. Not on the facetious side but something like, "You are a liars and criminals." I have actually said that to telephone callers – finger poised over the switch-hook on the telephone to then cut the call before they can.

Safer to ignore it, but still report, block and delete it.

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

Posted by Nigel Graham 2 on 01/03/2023 08:14:09:.

……I tried to forward it to phishing@bt but it failed, not the first to do so…..

If that's exactly what you put, it won't work (apologies if you've merely mis-typed it here). Use phishing@bt.com or, as Michael said report@phishing.gov.uk

Rob

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

My latest is the car tax payment failed to go through! This originated in, fra.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Rob –

Thank you for pointing that out, but I type links here so they aren't!

I used both, once I'd twigged that I needed use the actual message title and not what it had seemed. That title was just ' . ' . A full-stop on its own.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Hard to decide which of the many threads to update, but I chose this one.

.

As previously reported, I forward suspect emails to < report@phishing.gov.uk > and send a Bcc to myself

Sometimes, BTinternet manages to put the Bcc in my Junk folder, and prefix the subject-line with [SUSPECT] … which is very clever of them, but ‘too little, too late’

Recently, I have had numerous strange messages [some with photos attached, some not], and suddenly BTinternet has started using the prefix [VIRUS] on my Bcc

Does this count as progress ??

.

.

MichaelG.

[Chris MateParticipant @chrismate31303]

My wife received a friend request from a deaf singer we happens to know from a few years back, however she/he send my wife a private message if she was not notified she won a 200 000 dollar lottery which is not possible. I investigated found the original correct facebook page from 2011 and this one from 2019. It looked absolutely legit with photos thousands of followers and messages from good h)onest looking people, nothing out of the ordinary. Only the message with links was a give away. Now this was going on since 2019 and the singers life was " taken over " in the background communicating with unsuspected people. If it was not for the message I would never doubt the page.

[DellParticipant @dell]

I have just had a message saying did you receive a payment from HHS ( googled and health & human services America) because he said I saw your name on the list and as I have had my payment I am just checking because if you haven’t then you need to get in touch, deleted and blocked, they used a name of someone I know, they must think we have just arrived on the latest banana boat

 forgot to say he couldn’t have seen my name on a list because I don’t use my name on facebook so he couldn’t know it.

Edited By Dell on 15/06/2023 18:45:06

[Andy StopfordParticipant @andystopford50521]

Posted by Nigel Graham 2 on 17/02/2023 00:38:15:

The novel 1984 was written in the early-1930s

Published in 1949, probably started during the 2nd World War, but mostly written after the war when Orwell was convalescing from tuberculosis on the island of Jura.

[John Doe 2Participant @johndoe2]

I distrust 99.5% of emails I get from people and "organisations" whom I don't know.

I don't do online banking. I have told my bank that I will only deal with them in person or via letter written on paper and delivered via the UK postal service.

I don't populate my electronic address book. But interesting to learn that you can block any senders not in your address book – I have long thought that this should be a feature.

I don't use my diary function on any of my electronic devices. To easy for hackers to see when your house might be unoccupied.

I don't give out my phone number except to trusted people or friends.

I refuse to have any smart speakers, web based doorbells, smart televisions, or web based security cameras etc etc. I learned to program computers in the 1970's, so I know how easy it would be to harvest data – without the harvestee even knowing.

However; for various recent freelance work contracts this year, I have had to give out my contact number and email address – (for accreditation) – to companies that are supposed to follow GDPR by law. In this last year, I have seen an explosion in junk texts and emails, so those companies – supposedly following and complying with GDPR – are about as watertight as a colander. I have also had office workers – of supposedly GDPR compliant companies – emailing me with my own bank account number and details in an open, unencrypted email……Words failed me.

Am also concerned because my local supermarket now has CCTV screens on the self service check-outs, which record my face as I scan my groceries. This means that hackers can now use facial recognition to connect my face with my credit card, and therefore my name – literally putting a name to a face. Then via hacking driving licence and passport, they have everything they need to steal my identity.

They can take out a loan in my name and then default, potentially leaving me to pick up the pieces.

 

Sorry about the rant, but I can't sleep !!  

 

.

Edited By John Doe 2 on 16/06/2023 01:51:42

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

Posted by Tony Pratt 1 on 17/02/2023 11:18:01:

Posted by michael cole on 17/02/2023 10:48:10:

Posted by Robert Atkinson 2 on 09/02/2023 06:09:12:

Video doorbells etc also require compliance with data protection laws in the UK if they have a view of the street.

Err, just No this is not the case . The public street is just that Public.

Mike

That is my understanding

Tony

Late seeing this reply, but it is not correct. While you can use a camers to take pictures of people in public places, video door bells that record are CCTV systems and thus come under GDPR. This means if they cover the street or anything other than your property you have to put up notices etc. Now the information comissioner says they won't enforce the law on private individuals (this seems wrong to me) people have been convicted.
https://www.cctv.co.uk/are-doorbell-cameras-legal-legal-issues-uk/
And legal comment on the case:
https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/legal-updates/ring-doorbells-domestic-cctv-and-gdpr/5111162.article

This confirms GDPR applies if camera(s) view outside your property or if any busines is run from the property. This would include letting or sole traders.

Robert.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Might be worth a digression here, although door cameras have nothing to do with scams. In the very same clutch of e-posts holding the notice of the above (about door cameras), our society secretary circulated two insurance claims published by Walker Midgely.

Both were instances of derailments caused by passengers not sitting still. One claim was upheld because there were minor injuries, and no witnesses. The other was rejected because a passenger reported as witness the behaviour of those who had derailed the carriage despite having already been told by the driver to desist.

WM's advice included using CCTV.

I am not a solicitor or barrister but the Law Gazette article would suggest that would be one huge can of wriggly things on KC wages – more so when despite the laudable aims and innocent use, many if not most passengers on miniature railways are children.

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Watch out, watch out there’s a thief about! TV licensing scam email this morning asking you to open a portal ha ha. Be careful out there!

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

One yesterday my computer had already marked as "spam", was from a fictitious loans company. The liars had even created a smart, multicoloured table of investments and returns. Oh, naturally, the details requested included enough to gain access to my bank account.

Reported, Name blocked, Domain blocked, Deleted.

'''

Next to it was another, I think a pretend BT one.

Reported, Name Blocked, Domain left alone as it was a standard one, Deleted.

[vic neweyParticipant @vicnewey60017]

My wife had one on Friday from an old lady she knows in the WI, she asked if we used Amazon, my wife said yes and then the lady asked if she could buy her a $200 gift voucher as her computer would not work properly. My wife said " who is going to America? and the reply came back " don't know yet"

I told the wife to do nothing as it was very suspicious, and I checked the email was not masked but it was the ladies proper email. On Saturday an email came from the local WI president saying to be aware of an Amazon scam and that the old lady had confirmed she had no idea what was going on with her email.

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Posted by vic newey on 19/06/2023 10:33:04:

My wife had one on Friday from an old lady she knows in the WI, she asked if we used Amazon, my wife said yes and then the lady asked if she could buy her a $200 gift voucher as her computer would not work properly. My wife said " who is going to America? and the reply came back " don't know yet"

I told the wife to do nothing as it was very suspicious, and I checked the email was not masked but it was the ladies proper email. On Saturday an email came from the local WI president saying to be aware of an Amazon scam and that the old lady had confirmed she had no idea what was going on with her email.

The old lady needs to change her password to her email account.

Russell

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Thank you.

I don't know if this originated from a gang trawling though stolen club or private address-lists, or if the WI connection is purely co-incidental, but I will tip my neighbour off about that one, as she is in the local WI.

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

Posted by Nigel Graham 2 on 16/06/2023 22:57:36:

Might be worth a digression here, although door cameras have nothing to do with scams. In the very same clutch of e-posts holding the notice of the above (about door cameras), our society secretary circulated two insurance claims published by Walker Midgely.

Both were instances of derailments caused by passengers not sitting still. One claim was upheld because there were minor injuries, and no witnesses. The other was rejected because a passenger reported as witness the behaviour of those who had derailed the carriage despite having already been told by the driver to desist.

WM's advice included using CCTV.

I am not a solicitor or barrister but the Law Gazette article would suggest that would be one huge can of wriggly things on KC wages – more so when despite the laudable aims and innocent use, many if not most passengers on miniature railways are children.

If it is purely hobby use of a loco etc on private ground then use of CCTV e.g. a dashcam would not require GDPR registration but you should not publish or post images online. If there is any business interest e.g. charging for rides or a club then registration would be required. I'd suggest the protection afforded would be well worth the effort. The same rules apply to dash cams in cars and trucks. Private cars don't need to register business vehicles do.

[the artfull-codgerParticipant @theartfull-codger]

Got a phone call this morning asking if I was Mr *** yes sez I & who are you? she sad a name & that she was from Amazon & asked me when I last purchased from my Amazon account,so I told her if she was from Amazon she would know when I last made a purchase, next thing she sharply told me "Bad manners" & slammed the phone down, gutted I wanted to give her a gob full,especially as I had just cocked a little job up & was in a mood!!

Graham.;

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Maybe the pretend-Amazon lady was in a bad mood 'cos she'd had a whole string of intended victims making her realise they didn't believe her!

Oddest I've had came early one evening.

"Hello?" I never quote my name and number.

"Am I speaking to Mrs. Graham?" the caller enquired politely, in what seemed an English accent.

"No, sorry, this is Mr. Graham. May I take a mess-……? " Crash! as him on t'other end barely gave me time to finish the word before slamming his phone down. He wasn't to know there was no Mrs. G- to whom to relay the message; but I've often wondered what he was going to try sell her, or trick her out of.

[Author]

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